Improvement in animal-traps



luidt tabea prima (time rEoMAS E. MAIAELEoE PETERSBURG, VIRGINIA,ASSIcNoR'To-HIM- SEEE AND S. A. PLUMMEE, 0E SAivIErLAcE.4

Letters Patent No. 109,530, dated November 22,1870.

To all whom'zt may concern:

Be it known thatI, THOMAS E. MARABLE, of Petersburg, in the county ofDinwiddie and State of Virginia, have invented a new andimprovedAniinalllrap; and I do hereby declare the following to be" afull, cleaigand exact ldescription of the same, reference being had tothe accompanying drawing making a part of this specification, in which-Figure l is a plan View ot' the trap with the cover removed, and YFigure 2 is a sectional elevation;

This invention relates toan animal-trap in whichis used a verticalstandard provided with horizontal radial arms that are made to revolvebythe application of any suitable power over and nearly in contact witha horizontal platform, which is furnished with a trapdoor held up by aspring, and having a projecting pin which, whenone oi' the aforesaidarmscomes in contact with it, prevents the saidl arms from revolving,said trap-door, when trodden upon by an animal, yielding, and thuswithdrawing the pin from in front of the radial arm, whereupon thclatter suddenly sweeps the animal off the platform into a box beneath,thus relieving the trap-door of thc animalsweight. and allow-V ing thespringto raise the trap-door into its former horizontal position, whereits pin again arrests the revolving arms, thus both resetting the trapand closing the box in which the animal is imprisoned.

'Referring to the drawing- A is a box of cylindrical or other shape.

a, a shaft, stepped in-the bottoni fof the box, and passing through anorifice in its top. Y i

I), radial arms projecting horizontally from theshaft a, and providedeach with an end piece, c, placed at right angles with the arms.

d is a grooved wheel placed horizontally on the shaft l); and woundaround with a cord that passes'over sheaves inthe upright c, secured toone side of the box A, to the other end of which .cord a' weight, f, isattached, for thc purpose of imparting a rotary motion to the shaft aand arms b.

There there is space for the weight to hang low enough, thestandard cmay bc dispensed with, and

. lthe sheave attached to the side of the box. Any other means maybeused for making the shaft revolve.

A horizontal platform, h, is secured to 'one sideof the interior ofthebox A, and to the inner edge of said platibrm a trap-door, i, is hinged;said trap-door is supported upon a spring,'k, coiled around a stud, l,that projects upward from the bottom of the cox A, and passes through ahole in the trap-door.

The spring It is made limber enough'- to yield to the weight of theanimal 'for 'whose capture the trap is intended. v

The hait is fastened upon a pin, m, projecting upward from the top 'ot'the blockn that is secured to the bottom of the box, said pin beingplaced in such position that the animal cannot reach the bait withoutstepping on the trap-door. The latter is provided with a'pin, o, againstwhich, when the trap-door is horizontal, one of the arms, b, bears,andby which Said arm is held stationary.

filent-he anima-l Steps on the'tra-p-door-the spring 7.: yields brneathhis weight, and the trap-door falls so 'far as to withdraw the pin ofrom before the arm b,

whereupon the latter is immediately set in rotation by lthe weight andsweeps the animal oii' ihe platform into the box; the trap-doorthenflies'np again as the spring't' extends, andthe next arm, b, catchesand is held against the pin o, thus resetting thevtrap and closing thebox.k

A sheet-metal partition, fr, ineloses the bloc-k 'a and Y spring k, soas to prevent the` animal from injuring the same.

Having thus described my invention,

What I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is` Thearrangement of the box A, platform h, trapdoor fi, spring L, bait-blockn, shaft a, and radial arms I), when said shaft and arms are made torevolve in, any suitableI manner, substantially as described.

T. E. 'MARABLE Witnesses:

CEAS. A.PETTIT, y Tiros. D. D: Otranto. n

